SOME OF YOUR BITS AIN’T NICE

A classic film that does not date at all.

DVD

1982

10 Minutes

Cartoon about personal hygiene aimed at teenagers.

An animated cartoon in which two teenagers, Buster and Isla discover that life is sweeter if ‘all of their bits are nice’ – and that includes the bits you can’t see! The need to keep hands, hair, teeth, feet, body and clothes clean is presented in a lively way calculated to appeal to teenagers and adults alike.

A review in International Movie DataBase

Wow, I can’t believe this was made in 1982! I honestly thought it was a late sixties-early seventies production, with the stark animation, the white, minimalist backgrounds and the cynical style – it reminded me of Disney’s iconoclastic (for the Disney studio, at least) ‘It’s Tough To Be A Bird’ (I think that was the title) short. Hosted by one Mike Roscope (groan), this educational cartoon preached the importance of good grooming, regular baths, brushing your teeth, changing your clothes and generally being a ‘clean teen’, and the schools I attended from age nine upwards showed it so often, I can still rattle off huge chunks of it to this day.

Roscope telling us “There ain’t nobody that don’t sweat”…”Dirty clothes on a clean Ida don’t make sense”…and that hilarious melancholy ‘WHAAAOWWW’ synthesizer sound that kicked in whenever the boy told the girl (or vice-versa) that “Some of your bits ain’t nice”! A cult classic in the making, I can’t believe there isn’t an internet site devoted to this little beauty. There can’t be a single British schoolkid of my age group (born 1974) who doesn’t remember it.

£32.60 plus postage

You can easily order by going to our website www.concordmedia.org.uk/products/some-of-your-bits-aint-nice-1128/ or you can order by e-mailing us at sales@concordmedia.org.uk Please put ref HH1 in your order.

 

If you have a look at the photos below of these unique outdoor classrooms we have supplied to special needs schools, how much do you think they cost?

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The real answer to that question should be 2-3 hours of the school’s time. The reason for that is that they used our grant funding service whereby as part of our overall service, we retain the services of a fundraising consultant who specialises in the educational sector…so basically he works alongside us/you to research and identify potential grants to fund our products and this is all done on a speculative, no win no fee basis and therefore does not need to cost you a bean if we do not manage to source you any funds. He does this day in, day out so knows exactly what funders are looking for and how to help you successfully complete the various bid forms. In the past year, we have had a 100% success hit rate for our special needs schools.

Please do have a look at our website for more information on our company and the type of products we can supply to your school but if you had any outdoor learning or playground projects in mind which we could help you find funding for, then we would love to hear from you. We can also give you more details as to how the above service works.

www.hideouthouse.com

I look forward to hearing from you

With kind regards

Simon Fearnehough
Director

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Email: simon@hideouthouse.com   Telephone: 01865 858982
Websites: www.hideouthouse.com

 

How to get Top Marks in Edexcel French IGCSE Writing Questions

The essay writing questions might seem daunting at first but this is one section of the paper where you, as the candidate, are in control. As long as you answer the questions and cover all the bullet points, you can decide what to write.

This is an easy way to score marks, and the writing sections of the paper count for 30 marks (10 for the shorter writing task and 20 for the longer writing task) which is 25% of the total marks. If you do well in this part of the paper it can make all the difference in being able to move up the grade boundaries.

This pack will explain what is required for the two writing questions for the Edexcel French IGCSE specification. Sample questions will be looked at, with tips for essay techniques, followed by sample essays, with examiners’ comments. Writing tasks from each of the topic areas will be looked at, for both the shorter and longer writing tasks.

The five topic areas are:

1. Home and Abroad
2. Education and Employment
3. House, home and daily routine
4. The modern world and the environment
5. Social activities, fitness and health

56 pages – Price £39.99 (excluding VAT)

Once purchased the CD can be freely copied and networked throughout the school.

To see sample pages please email info@classroom-resources.co.uk quoting the order code H9231

You can order the Edexcel French IGCSE – Essay Writing Skills CD-ROM in any of these ways: 

  • On our website
  • By phone on 0117 940 6409
  • By fax on 0117 940 6408
  • By email (quoting a school order number) to info@classroom-resources.co.uk
  • By post to: Classroom Resources, 9 Logan Road, Bristol, BS7 8DU

Classroom Resources Ltd
9 Logan Road,
Bristol,
BS7 8DU

www.classroom-resources.co.uk
info@classroom-resources.co.uk

Tel: 0117 940 6409

 

Savings for Schools – Nursery Edition

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Topical Resources Summer Sale of 2016: Buy Practical Topics for the Early Years for just £5 a book before the end of August (or while stocks last).

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Free delivery on Edventure Playtime Games when you quote the code HH0515.

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Easy Peasy Plays and Click-n-Sing Videos for Early Years/ Nursery


  

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Ten Town helps children to develop strong basic numeracy skills.

Quote HH15 and receive a free sing-along CD.

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Research has found that children learn better if they have something in front of them that they can feel and physically touch.

Calm Kids provides tactile products to help children be more productive. 

The ‘Busy Hands, Busy Brains’ Classroom Pack contains 50 items ideal for children. Noww available with a 30% discount.

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For more savings on nursery and
early years teaching resources, like
Savings for Schools on Facebook.
For more savings on nursery and
early years teaching resources, follow
Savings for Schools on Twitter.

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Save hours of your valuable time, boost your productivity and reduce stress.

These days you probably find yourself spending more and more time at the computer, answering emails, producing typed documents for various purposes and exploring the internet.  It seems that most teachers now use a keyboard more often than a pen.

Yet, like many UK employees, the majority of teachers have never learned to type properly.  Do you struggle along, prodding away with just two fingers and with your head down?  If so, you will be typing at only about half your potential speed and probably with low levels of accuracy.

With such heavy workloads, wasting valuable time through poor typing skills is inefficient and costly and increases stress.

Type&Test are the UK’s leading specialists in touch-typing training and assessment.  Our online learning programmes are the only ones recommended by Awarding Bodies such as the BCS and the SQA, having been used over the past nine years to prepare learners of all ages for national typing qualifications.

Our unique ‘Type Faster, Work Smarter’ course is guaranteed to significantly increase your typing speed whilst maintaining or improving your accuracy.  The outcome will be that you will increase your output, gain more time, work more productively and reduce your levels of work-related pressure.

Involving a structured interactive online programme, with support from an experienced Type&Test tutor who will communicate with you regularly via email, messaging and skype, you will gain invaluable touch-typing skills through short regular practice sessions which you will complete at times that fit around your busy working day.  After just a few weeks – around the length of a school term – we guarantee that your typing skills will improve significantly or we will refund your course fee in full.

For more information please email enquiries@typeandtest.com with the subject line ‘Type Faster, Work Smarter’ and we will email you our programme flier.  Click here for information from our website.  Or if you want to have a chat about it with no obligation then call Andy Stevenson on 01768 342821.

 

 

Online Safeguarding Training for OFSTED requirements

SSS Learning’s CPD accredited secure online safeguarding training is created specifically for school and academy settings to meet the OFSTED Common Inspection Framework, offering a perfect solution to promote best practice and evidence training to OFSTED.

Accessible anytime/anywhere on PC, MAC, Tablet or Smart Phone, our online training takes approximately one hour per course to complete and is by far the most cost-effective way to train your staff both quickly and easily.

To find out about our current online safeguarding courses for staff in schools and academies, please click on a course title below:

CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION  

CHILD PROTECTION

PREVENT DUTY

CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION  

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION AWARENESS 

MAKING POLICY WORK IN PRACTICE

RISK ASSESSMENT

SSS Learning Ltd, Suite A, St Hilary Court, Copthorne Way, Cardiff, CF5 6ES, 02920 597000.

 

If your laminator breaks down, or you suddenly have a big laminating job and need an extra machine, we’ll deliver a new laminator within 24 hours.

When you need a new laminator suddenly, we can deliver a versatile, reliable machine offering consistent high quality lamination.

And it comes with jam-free mechanism allowing laminating for all types of documents including cut-up pieces up to A3 size.

All for £159.00.  If you want a picture, we have one here.   As for a wide range of laminating pouches they are here.

Here’s the technical spec…

  • Up to 690mm / 27″ a minute
  • Variable temperature control
  • Anti-jam reverse mode
  • Pouches up to 360 micron
  • Internal cooling fan

You can order in the any of the following ways:

  • Online here
  • By emailing us at sales@algebrawales.co.uk
  • By calling us at 01443 236920
  • By fax to 01443 449615
  • By mail to Algebra Stationary, Heol y Twyn, Talbot Green, Pontyclun, CF72 9FG

 

A worrying number of schools contain asbestos

We all know the dangers associated with asbestos, but how certain can you be that it is not contained within your school?

Worryingly it has been reported that between 200 and 300 former school children and a rising number of teachers die of mesothelioma each year, thought to be caused by the asbestos found in 86% of school buildings across the UK.

It is important that all staff, particularly those responsible for the running of the buildings, are made aware of the potential hazards.  All staff should be instructed not to disturb or damage asbestos containing materials. Damage to school fixtures or fittings that could lead to the release of asbestos fibres need to be reported.

How do I know if asbestos is present and how do we manage it?

The Asbestos Man is able to work with you to devise and implement a comprehensive Asbestos policy that starts with a consultation, followed by a full site survey including the analysis of any suspect materials.

We will compile a user friendly report containing photographs, annotated plans and the appropriate recommendations from the survey findings. Where asbestos has been identified we will then work with you to put in place a management plan so that the occupants of the premises are protected.

For schools where budget does not allow a full site survey we can, in many cases, update an existing survey.

It is a legal requirement to undertake a refurbishment or demolition survey for asbestos containing materials prior to any works taking place.

If you have any enquiries regarding asbestos please do not hesitate to call (quoting reference code HH1):-

  Alan the Asbestos Man on 07510 104323

 info@theasbestosman.co.uk  

www.theasbestosman.co.uk

To view my Checkatrade page please click this link http://www.checkatrade.com/TheAsbestosMan/

Confidence and having an open mindset is everything in learning.

As the work of Carol Dweck has proved, no matter how able, a child’s perception of themselves as a learner will determine their academic career. If it is poor, it will:

  • Undermine their resilience, so that they give up at the slightest obstacle
  • Make them defensive learners, unwilling to challenge themselves
  • Make them over-reliant on teachers and on received opinion
  • Write-off successes as ‘flukes’
  • Under-perform in exams and tests
  • Have low aspirations and under-achieve in life

The acclaimed self-perception test Myself As a Learner Scale 8-16+, by Robert Burden, gives teachers, psychologists and researchers a proven technique to gain access to this important aspect of learning development. In fact, the test is the only one that measures a child’s perception of themselves, specifically as learners.

Using it will enable you to:

  • Uncover, beneath external shows of confidence, which children have poor views of themselves as learners and therefore will be liable to under-perform
  • Pinpoint exactly where their problems are
  • Measure progress in developing ‘open-mindsets’ in children

Myself as a Learner Scale 8-16+ is easy to administer, score and interpret. It can be used for gaining information on large cohorts of students or for more clinical purposes with individuals.

It is a valid and reliable scale that can provide a valuable addition to any school’s assessment programme or educational psychologist’s repertoire of assessment techniques.

This is why MALS has gone around the world as the key test to use to measure a child’s image of themselves as learners and thinkers.

You can find out more about the test and order your copy at our bookshop.

Or if you have any questions, or would like to order directly with me, you can email me at james@imaginativeminds.co.uk. Or call me on my direct number: 0121 2247584.

I look forward to hearing from you.

James Mason
Marketing
Teaching Times

Tel: 0121 224 7584 | Fax: 0121 224 7589
james@imaginativeminds.co.uk | TeachingTimes.com

PS: If you would like to order by invoice, you can order your copy of MALS on the bookshop and select ‘Invoice Payment’ at check out.

The Little Box of BIG Questions

Philosophical and meaningful conversations with children and young people

Professor Irvine Gersch & Dr Anna Lipscomb

Children/young people need time, space and kindness to speak openly about the things most important to them and listening can help facilitators understand better the root of children’s thinking and behaviour, and can give an insight into how to better support them to reach their potential. Use these cards to provide prompts for a meaningful, stimulating and positive conversation about the ‘bigger picture’ in life. They will help children and young people understand their views about life, school and people important to them, which is enlightening for the facilitators too.

There are four areas for discussion:

Identity – allows the child to consider what is special about them as individuals & includes: How would you describe the person you are?

Important people – children are encouraged to consider who is important to them through questions such as: Who is special to you?

Meaning & Purpose – questions covering our mission and purpose in life, for example: Do you think that people’s lives are set out for them?

Thinking & Planning – the final set of questions allows individuals to think about how they reflect and make big decisions, for instance: How do you calm your mind, relax and think best? Have you ever experienced a big change in your life?

Contents: 17 A5-size cards, includes instruction booklet with ideas for use

LITTLE BOX OF BIG QUESTIONS ref. 400H £24.99

TO ORDER:
Post: Small World, 9 Burnham Place, Syresham, Northants, NN13 5HT
Tel: 01280 850 305
Fax: 01280 830022

Email: orders@smlworld.co.uk
http://www.smlworld.co.uk/little-box-of-big-questions-order-form-hh.html

To obtain a 5% discount on your order, please quote HH14 on your purchase order form or add the discount code whilst purchasing online.

Exceptional Resources for Careers Advisors

Exceptional Banner - Bigger

First and Best in Education

What Employers Want and Expect – looks at the attitude of employers to young employees and the new demands that employers are placing on staff.

101 Ways to be Successful at Job and College Interviews – enables your students to prepare thoroughly for first job or college interviews and will help them to manage any nerves.

A Student’s Guide to Auditioning for Drama School – help your students work towards achieving that desired place at Drama School.

Making the Next Transition – a guide to post 16 options – a copiable volume (available both on CD and in printed format) that can be used by both students and parents to help them make the right decisions for now, and understand the long term implications of those decisions.

The Work Experience Manual – includes information on finding placements, liaising with the company, student notes which allow those going on placements to be properly prepared, a record book showing the placement’s activities, and a wide range of actions and activities that should be considered after the work experience is over.

Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk
Telephone:
01536 399007
Postal address:
Hamilton House Mailings Ltd, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants, NN17 4HH

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UniTasterDays

Search Taster Day Events – helps careers advisors to discover an array of events to book students on to, such as university and college taster days, workshops, residentials, open days, outreach events and widening participation opportunities.

Email: info@unitasterdays.com
Telephone:
+44(0)208 798 0982

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ZigZag Education

Careers Teaching Resources – publishers of photocopiable and digital teaching resources for schools.

Email: sales@ZigZagEducation.com
Telephone:
0117 950 3199
Postal address:
ZigZag Education, Unit 3, Greenway Business Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol, BS10 5PY

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You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk.

Four films offering a professional insight into Equality and Diversity, Addiction, Drugs and alcohol, Stress and suicide.

Just Listen – Race, Religion, Disability, Sexuality and Gender

35 Minutes

Stories about equality and diversity.

Interviews with people who come from groups which are prejudiced against. They talk frankly about their experiences and the problems they encounter.

1. Race and Religion: Ibraham and Clair: Tragic story of a refugee; a British Muslim describes her religion. Ibraham’s story of personal tragedy dispels many of the myths that exist about refugees and asylum seekers. Clair is a Muslim and tells how lack of understanding leads to prejudice towards other religions, particularly Islam. Running time: 12 mins

2. Disability: Linda: How other people regard those with a disability. Linda is a wheelchair user and talks about how people treat her and other disabled people differently. We see examples from her perspective, giving viewers an insight into Linda’s world and the difficulties disabled people have to face. Running time: 13 mins

3. Gender and Sexuality: Alice and Mick” A transgender and a gay man talk about prejudice they have encountered. Alice is a transgender. She describes how transgender people have to live with abuse and ridicule. Mick is gay and has been attacked because of “what he is”. He talks about the stress that hiding your true identity brings. Running time: 10 mins

£43.80 plus postage

You can easily order by going to our website http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/products/just-listen-race-religion-disability-sexuality-and-gender-495/  or you can order by e-mailing us at sales@concordmedia.org.uk Please put ref HH1 in your order.

Addiction and the Human Brain

25 Minutes

How drug addiction affects the human brain, particularly relating to teenagers.

How drug addiction affects the human brain. Teenagers are at the highest risk of drug addiction. This programme combines factual information and interviews with recovering teenage addicts, counsellors and brain experts to help viewers understand the effects of drugs on the brain how the brain responds to drugs and why the brains of teenagers make them more vulnerable to the effects of drugs; developing tolerance how drug use actually changes the brain, leading to a reduction in the response to the drug after prolonged use and the need to take higher doses to get the same effect; dependence and addiction how continued voluntary drug use can eventually become involuntary sand compulsive, as the brain becomes accustomed to the drug and can’t function without it; treatment and recovery how recovering addicts have to overcome the power of cravings, resist triggers that cause cravings, and change their behaviour in order to quit successfully, and preventing addiction is better than treating it. USA.

£48.80 plus postage

You can easily order by going to our website  http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/products/addiction-and-the-human-brain-1044/  or  you can order by e-mailing us at sales@concordmedia.org.uk Please put ref HH1 in your order.

Drugs and Alcohol series

74 Minutes

Four short programmes which are available together on one DVD: Have a Good Time, Learning Together, Alcohol in the Dock and Drugs: a Simple Choice.

Have a Good Time: Leigh Conroy and John Evans, two recovering alcoholics, were alarmed to see youngsters making the same mistakes they had made. They gave talks in schools, formed ‘High & Dry’, and made this film, which looks at the problems associated with young people and alcohol, in a series of linked sketches involving a group of a young people going to a disco and drinking too much. Good discussion starter. For ages 10-18. 23 mins “When we explained the underage figures to parents they were shocked. They didn’t think it was their children” Schools Health Education Unit.

Learning Together: Introducing drug education in primary schools at Key Stage one and two, involving parents going into the schools. For Primary/Middle School Teachers. 13 mins.

Alcohol in the Dock: Young people made this programme themselves, looking at the Health Angle, the Legal Angle, and the Business Angle, as well as Your Angle – their own stories and opinions. For ages 12 +. “A very refreshing film that allows youngsters to have their say…never fails to get them talking” Eden Youth Project. 20 mins.

Drugs – a Simple Choice?: Three young drug users tell their stories. A discussion starter particularly for young people. Three young drug users are interviewed, and the sections examine why take drugs? What in addition to addiction, are they risking? What problems do they now have because of drugs? and what does the future hold for them? They tell their own stories and comment on what could happen next. Reconstruction based on real people. For ages 10-18. 18 mins.

Programmes developed in conjunction with Suffolk Drugs Action Team

£31.30 plus postage

You can easily order by going to our website  http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/products/drugs-and-alcohol-series-209/  or you can order by e-mailing us at sales@concordmedia.org.uk Please put ref HH1 in your order.

Breaking Point

53 Minutes

Three short programmes together on suicide and stress: In the Same Breath, Friday 21.03 and the Stress Case Studies

In the Same Breath: Quentin’s wife took her own life. He talks about the impact this had, and the periods of guilt and feelings of helplessness, depression and self-pity. It shows how one man has survived the tragedy, learnt to embrace a new life and live with the past.  “Very sensitive, the difficult words are eased  by  good photography ..;.eloquently describes his grief journey…a hopeful message” Norwich Cruse bereavement Care.    11 mins.

Friday ..21.03: Teenage suicide. Why do young people commit suicide? What signs should we look out for? What can we do to help?. Tells the story of Sarah’s last day and, through her thoughts, we get an insight into her state of mind. The film covers a range of issues that will be readily identifiable by young people and is supported by discussion notes.  ” I have watched many films on this subject  but this one really hit the nail on the head” Doreen, Outreach Director Ipswich Samaritans.   12 mins

Stress Case Studies:

A series of four case studies showing how stress can affect people’s lives, particularly in relation to work. Psychologist Peter Holden introduces each study with an explanation of stress and its causes, and concludes with advice on coping with it.
1. Peter Rogers – Successful Accountant Peter Rogers is 38, a successful accountant who recently received promotion. This meant added responsibility and a move. He and his family moved into a large comfortable house and everything seemed fine.. but was it ?
2. Pauline Marshall – Catering Supervisor Pauline Marshall, married with two teenage children, worked for the last six years for a local company as a canteen assistant. She enjoyed the work and the atmosphere, but when she was appointed supervisor things started going wrong.
3. Robert Fraser, Retired Robert Fraser had worked for the same company for over 30 years. He and his wife had looked forward to his retirement, and had planned to enjoy the extra time together. But it didn’t work out like that.
4. Sandra Taylor – Head f Personnel Sandra Taylor is 26 and recently divorced. She had worked for a successful public relations company since leaving school, and she seemed very efficient and level headed. She was appointed head of personnel. But all was not well.

£43.80 plus postage

You can easily order by going to our website http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/products/breaking-point-85/  or you can order by e-mailing us at sales@concordmedia.org.uk Please put ref HH1 in your order.

What exactly is it that makes one school computer so much better than another?

No matter how many computers you have bought, that question still remains.  And it remains for one very simple reason.

Even if the last computer/s you purchased for your school were a great success, the chances are that the specification of the models you chose will have changed since that purchase.  So the thinking process starts all over again.

But because we sell computers to schools we have an advantage.  Obviously we look at each new computer that comes along and consider its pros and cons.

But that’s only part one, because when schools buy from us (some accepting our guidance, some following their own thoughts, using us to get the best prices) we keep talking to our customers to find out what they thought of what they bought.

In this way we hold an eternally evolving and indeed unique view of what school IT departments are saying about the IT equipment they are buying.

Some of our current recommended offers are…

Currently we are offering…

–      Up to 15% Education discount on our products
–      Exclusive offers as part of the Microsoft (TAP) Technology Access Program.
–      Dedicated Account Manager for all your school’s hardware requirements.
–      Pre-configurations available & special build requests
–      Managed Printing Services.
–      Software licensing & solution packages.

We look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to call on 0208 200 2016, or email education@technoworld.com.

Or see our website: https://www.technoworld.com/

School Exclusive Offers – getting value-for-money for your institution:

Become Ofsted Outstanding with your 12 Month Facebook Content Calendar

Hi, my name is Dave Walker.

I am the UK’s leading Education Marketing Expert, and I’ve helped schools all over Europe use their online presence to grow their brand and build an Outstanding School for the last twenty years.

I’ve worked with hundreds of Senior Leaders in schools so I know exactly which problems stop schools communicating effectively with their audiences. I want to show you how to use social media to communicate effortlessly with your parents and prospective parents and reinforce your school as ‘Outstanding.’

To help you achieve this I have developed a monthly calendar that tells you exactly what you need to post and when. When you subscribe to our social media calendar you will get a new calendar emailed to you in advance for each month of the year, but best of all you will get the first month September 2016 FREE.

That’s right your first month is completely FREE of charge.

Just click this link I Want my FREE Social Media Calendar and we will get it to you straight away.

Every Head teacher wants their primary school to be ‘Outstanding’. Every Head teacher also knows that to get graded as ‘Outstanding’ against today’s Ofsted framework is tough to achieve. Part of becoming an ‘Outstanding’ school is doing things that matter, better and often differently than other schools. Most primary schools use social media to communicate with their parents and prospective parents, but not many primary schools do it well and with ease.

Your social media calendar will:

  • Ensure Ofsted know you communicate well and engage with your community
  • Make social media easy to manage and deliver
  • Showcase your school as an Outstanding learning environment

I am sure you will enjoy your FREE first month. Click here to get your FREE copy Now.

I look forward to helping your school to grow.

Dave Walker

P.S. Take this one action and it could transform your schools ability to connect with its audiences and supercharge your school to ‘Outstanding’.

Calming the classroom enhances concentration

Would you like improved behaviour, more concentration and better results from your students?

……….at the press of a button??

Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it. This is what Sue Bains, Head Teacher at Pensnett School of Technology said about ‘Calmer Classrooms’ Music:

“The difference ‘Calmer Classrooms Music’ has made in my school in The West Midlands is nothing short of phenomenal. The incidence of disruptive behaviour has dropped, students are working more efficiently and teacher’s stress levels are much improved”.

You can find more information on our website.

You’ll also be able to see a Teacher’s TV programme explaining why and how it works, listen to samples and purchase downloads of 12 hours of Calmer Classrooms Music.

Calmer Classrooms Music is effective across all age ranges from nursery through to secondary schools.

If you have any questions or queries about Calmer Classrooms Music please do call me on 07801 067386 or email me at vo.fletcher@btinternet.com

Vo Fletcher

Over 150 entertaining, challenging, and open-ended activities which will develop your pupils’ higher level thinking skills

It is often claimed that the National Curriculum no longer encourages children to develop the higher level thinking skills that give them the ability to ‘think outside the box’. Which is why Brilliant Publications has produced Stimulate Creative Thinking.

Stimulate Creative Thinking encourages children to develop their mental agility through an array of challenging activities which take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete – making them ideal for homework tasks, fast finishers, and warm up activities in the morning.

The resource contains over 150 entertaining, open-ended challenges which not only provide mental stimulation but have also been proven to improve children’s overall confidence and self-esteem as there are no correct answers and any input is valued.

Furthermore, the activities require minimal preparation and can be used by any teacher, whatever their area of expertise.

You can order Stimulate Creative Thinking in a variety of ways, including:

  • By visiting the website
  • By phone on 01449 766629
  • By fax on 01449 768047
  • By email to orders@tradecounter.co.uk
  • Or by post to Brilliant Publications, Mendlesham Industrial Estate, Norwich Road, Mendlesham, Suffolk, IP14 5ND.

Brilliant Publications,
Mendlesham Industrial Estate,
Norwich Road,
Mendlesham,
Suffolk,
IP14 5ND.

website: www.brilliantpublications.co.uk
email: orders@tradecounter.co.uk

phone: 01449 766629
fax: 01449 768047

Exceptional Music Teaching Resources

Drums for Schools

Music Education for the Whole School – From £1 per pupil including teaching support

All Drums for Schools Class Packs come with complete teaching support: teaching guides, lesson plans, video and audio tracks and with expert advice on tap. The support is so good and the approach so accessible that any enthusiastic teacher can successfully lead their class from basics through to first performance in just 10 lessons.

NEW for 2016 Our Class Packs are now configured on the “Buddies” principle with equal numbers of large and small instruments. The class can be split easily into “buddy” pairs, keeping everyone engaged and making your budget go twice as far.

Email: sales@drumsforschools.co.uk
Telephone:
01159 314 513
Postal address:
Drums for Schools, 21 Shaftesbury Avenue, Burton Joyce, Nottingham, NG14 5GL

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Ocarina Workshop – Award-winning Ocarinas

Tuned, Accessible, Musical and Ready-to-play

All your children will love the Ocarina and play full-octave tunes straight away. Ocarinas inspire the musician in everyone. Appropriate for transition to secondary school, enjoyed by boys as well as girls, the instrument is UK-made, robust and ready-to-play.

The Ocarina “combines creative potential, ease of use, affordability and practicality” – Best Music Education Product WINNER in the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence 2015

For just £10 each, everyone can have their own Ocarina and Book. Ocarina music gives immediate access to fluent playing and musical understanding, providing common ground for all the class.

Website: www.ocarina.co.uk
Email:
music@ocarina.co.uk
Telephone:
01536 485 963
Address:
Ocarina Workshop, PO BOX 56, Kettering, NN15 5LX

……………………………………………………………………………

CCLI

CCLI Collective Worship Licenses – offers licences, resources and ideas to help schools use songs and hymns during their times of Collective Worship in assemblies and special services.

Telephone: 01323 436100
Postal address:
CCLI, Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1BF

……………………………………………………………………………

UniTasterDays

Search Taster Day Events – helps Music teachers to discover an array of events to book students on to, such as university and college taster days, workshops, residentials, open days, outreach events and widening participation opportunities.

Email: info@unitasterdays.com
Telephone:
+44(0)208 798 0982

……………………………………………………………………………

ZigZag Education

Music Teaching Resources – publishers of teaching resources for schools.

Email: sales@ZigZagEducation.com
Telephone:
0117 950 3199
Postal address:
ZigZag Education, Unit 3, Greenway Business Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol, BS10 5PY

……………………………………………………………………………

First and Best in Education

Teaching Rythm, Melody and Harmony – this 130 page book plus music CD will be an invaluable source of materials and methods for teachers of Key Stage 3 Music classes. Rhythm, harmony and melody are all presented as separate sets of activities which can be incorporated into lessons of any length.

Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk
Telephone:
01536 399007
Postal address:
Hamilton House Mailings Ltd, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants, NN17 4HH

……………………………………………………………………………

You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk.

How can you acquire new sports equipment ready for September at 10% off the cost?

As part of Edventure’s 2016 Summer Sale we are offering all of our sports equipment for 10% off when you quote the code HH1007 on your order or at checkout before 22nd July 2016 (all orders must be completed by this date).

You can see the sports equipment that we offer by visiting www.edventure.co.uk/sports

Dart tennis cricket goal

We also have an extensive range of playtime games and equipment which you can see by clicking on the various category links below.

Active Play

Positive Play

Cooperative Play

Wet Playtime

Balls & Catching Games

Giant Games

To place an order with Edventure you can either:

  • visit our website at www.edventure.co.uk
  • fax your order to 01323 50 10 41
  • call us on 01323 50 10 40
  • email your order to us at sales@edventure.co.uk           
  • or send your order by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

Carriage is free on orders over £200 pre VAT.

What do nursery schools do in Leavers’ Week?

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In June 2016 the website Preparing for Leavers’ Week asked nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools around the UK if they became engaged in any Leavers’ Week activities.  And if so, what they did, who took charge, and when they planned it.

All the answers are now in, and those of us conducting the research were really quite surprised by the responses.

Our biggest surprise came from the level of enthusiasm for Leavers’ Week activities in nurseries – it seems to us that this was far, far greater in nursery schools and nursery units than in primary schools.

We were also taken aback by the high level of responses which came in both from nursery schools and nursery units attached to primary schools.

98% of the nursery schools and units said that they did indeed engage in Leavers’ Week activities and gave us a lot of detail as to what they did.

Our questions also involved issues of who took charge of the arrangements and when they started making arrangements.

You can read our full report on Leavers’ Week in Nursery Schools on the “Preparing for Leavers’ Week” website, which also carries our results from surveys of primary and secondary schools.

I do hope you find the information useful. My colleagues and I will be in touch again next term as we develop the site further.  It is, I think, the first time anyone has ever gathered together information on Leavers’ Week from schools around the UK.

Tony Attwood
The “Preparing for Leavers Week” team.

Boys don’t cry? Supporting the emotional and mental health of boys and young men

“Teachers should be given training in working more effectively with boys to support healthier mental and emotional development and the skills to manage health services.”

The Mengage workshop  ‘ Boys don’t cry? Supporting the emotional and mental health of boys and young men’ provides teachers, teaching assistants and others involved in work with young males on this concern with a workshop exploring:

  • Act like a boy: what research has to say about the emotional and mental health of boys and young men
  • Issues and concerns: bullying, sexuality, peer pressure, relationships, pornography, body-image, exclusion, pressure to succeed/exams…
  • Being practical: what can schools do to support and enhance the emotional and mental health of boys and young men?  Action planning and implementation.

The 3 hour informal workshop is based on research and proven practical work with boys and young men, providing teachers, support staff, and staff from affiliated professions with knowledge about a concern that not only affects school performance but can have an impact across the lifespan – and an opportunity to consider practical solutions schools can implement to address this concern.

http://mengage.co.uk/workshop-boys-dont-cry-supporting-the-emotional-and-mental-health-of-boys-and-young-men/

£895 – we come to your school – workshop to be delivered by two facilitators.

liam@mengage.co.uk
♦ 01905 570180
♦ 07788725318

Becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy tales and traditional stories, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics.

Despite revising key stories, fairy tales and traditional stories from around the world in literacy lessons, it can sometimes be difficult to know whether your pupils will be able to consider their particular characteristics and retell these stories a day, a week, or a year later.

Which is why Brilliant Publications has produced Understanding Traditional Stories.

Understanding Traditional Stories is a photocopiable teaching resource which not only contains a range of fairy tales, fables, and folk stories from around the world, but also a wealth of activities to ensure that these narratives have been understood.

The activities focus on developing comprehension and reading skills, preparing pupils for their Year 2 tests in which they are required to demonstrate that they not only have the ability to decode words and retrieve information, but also that they are able to state their opinion of a text and use skills such as inference and deduction.

Furthermore, the speaking and listening activities for each story support the expectations of the new curriculum, which places a heavy emphasis on Key Stage 1 children being encouraged to develop these skills.

You can order Understanding Traditional Stories in a variety of ways, including:

  • By visiting the website
  • By phone on 01449 766629
  • By fax on 01449 768047
  • By email to orders@tradecounter.co.uk
  • Or by post to Brilliant Publications, Mendlesham Industrial Estate, Norwich Road, Mendlesham, Suffolk, IP14 5ND.

Brilliant Publications,
Mendlesham Industrial Estate,
Norwich Road,
Mendlesham,
Suffolk,
IP14 5ND.

website: www.brilliantpublications.co.uk
email: orders@tradecounter.co.uk

phone: 01449 766629
fax: 01449 768047

The Collins English Dictionary…….

buy two, get one extra FREE*

Encourage your students to develop study skills, widen their vocabulary and help them improve their GCSE grades.

Collins are known for the quality of their dictionaries and this offer enables schools to benefit from an exceptionally low price as well as getting FREE dictionaries with orders of 100 or more copies*.

This dictionary is the normal paperback size (110 x 176 mm) with 616 pages, containing 15,000 + words in clear, easy to read print.  It’s  suitable for KS 3, 4 and GCSE students.

The RRP is £6.99 but it can be obtained from Signpost Educational Ltd from only £2.99 each and if you order 100 or more copies then you’ll get another 50% completely free of charge, eg. Order 200 copies and get 100 extra free.  It’s ideal not only for classroom use or for homework but also for prizes or incentives.  Further details on their website:

 www.signposteducational.co.uk/dictionaries-and-thesauri/

Please call 020 7515 1797 or email: info@signposteducational.co.uk for more information or to place an order.

The Cuckoo Rock Songbook – take your pupils into a magical world

David Stoll  (SEALSONGS, DICK OTTINGTON) has a new song collection for Primary Schools available for download from First & Best. The package also contains a specially written story script for a narrator which weaves all the songs together.

Thus THE CUCKOO ROCK SONGBOOK can be used as a basis for individual songs to be sung in assembly or simply within the class, or it can be a complete production for presentation to parents and the rest of the school – without any need for complex staging, special lighting or any other effects that may or may not be available.

The collection includes twelve settings of poems by Phil Bowen. These magical poems are full of unusual characters, colourful scenes and surprising wordplay; the original book was short-listed for the CLPE prize.

The music has echoes of 60’s rock as well as various contemporary styles. The SONGBOOK includes both printed piano accompaniment and pre-recorded full backing tracks with permissions for use.

You can see an extract from the songbook here http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/primary/CUCKOOROCKsample.pdf and you can hear the backing track here http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/primary/01 cuckoo rock.mp3

A copy of the complete collection of songs and the narrator’s script is available as a download from http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=820

The price is £16.95 plus VAT (the VAT can be reclaimed in most cases by the school).

THE CUCKOO ROCK SONGBOOK is distributed by First and Best in Education, part of the Hamilton House group. If you have any enquiries you can call 01536 399 011, or email sales@firstandbest.co.uk or write to us at First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants NN17 4HH.

The full range of First and Best books can be seen at www.shop.firstandbest.co.uk

First and Best in Education
Earlstrees Road
Corby
UK
NN17 4HH

Website: www.shop.firstandbest.co.uk
Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk 

You can now follow us on Twitter and Facebook

Discount Music Software for Secondary School Music Departments

SOFTPLANET always guarantee you a personal service with free on-going support. Let us work with you – contact us to receive sound advice and extra information on the latest music software.

Here are our 5 top software packages for UK Music Departments.

Simply click on the titles / images below to find out more, or call us for a free demo.


Sibelius 8
sibelius 8

From £19 per seat.


Acoustica Mixcraft 7
Mixcraft 7

Mixcraft is The Student’s DAW – the ideal application for creating professional quality songs, mixes, and videos with ease. From £20 per seat each.


Pro Tools 12
Skoog

Award-Winning Music Production Software. Pro Tools 12 is everything you need to edit, record and compose, mix great sounding audio and film/TV soundtracks. From £179.00.


Listen Hear 10 site License
Listen Hear

The ultimate revision guide for all listening exams including 250 multi-choice Questions and Answers (for PC) – £99.00


Guitar Class 10 Site License
Guitar Class

Fully progressive guitar music and tips, backing tracks and print sheet music options – £79.00


ORDERING INFO

Purchase orders accepted – 1 month net.

Order by email – hq@softplanetgroup.com

by phone 01334 461244

By post:

SOFTPLANET LTD, Greenbank House, Prior Muir, St Andrews, KY16 8LP

www.softplanetgroup.com

MUSIC EDUCATION

Are you ready for September?

It is widely expected that there will be rises in many instrument prices in the coming weeks – buy now!

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BRASS, WOODWIND & GENERAL MUSIC

www.heritage-music.co.uk

sales@heritagemusic.org.uk

01280 703111

 

Woodwind instruments & Accessories

Flute, Saxophone, Clarinet etc

Brass instruments & Accessories

Trumpet, Cornet, Trombone, Tenor, Baritone etc

General School music

Ukulele, Guitar, Recorder, Ocarina

 

BOWED STRINGS

www.caswells-strings.co.uk

sales@caswellsstrings.com

01280 707140

 

Bowed Strings & Accessories

Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass

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Heritage Music & Caswells Strings

Your Partner in Education Music

 

What are the three steps to identifying dysgraphia?

Step one: Compare your student’s handwriting with other students’ handwriting of the same age

Step two: Identify what is making his or her handwriting appear to be of poor quality:

Does his or her handwriting contain oversized letters and punctuation?
Are there inconsistencies in the size of consecutive letter?
Are letters and words written at
an inconsistent angle?
Is
his or her handwriting spaced inconsistently?
Are letters and words written in the wrong order?
Does
his or her handwriting contain more spelling mistakes than you would expect?
Does he or she often cross out his or her work and rewrite it?

Step three: Identify why the handwriting is of poor quality – What causes dysgraphia? A student with dysgraphia will often have problems with his or her language processing, fine motor skills, memory recall, pen/pencil grip, handwriting posture and/or visual spacing.

Dysgraphia Help offer an online dysgraphia test for pupils over 8 years old for £32 which can act as a preliminary diagnosis. The test consists of 50 questions and after completion of the test and submitting a handwriting sample you will receive a report within 72 hours.

You can find more information about Dysgraphia Help’s Online Dysgraphia Test at www.dysgraphiahelp.co.uk/testing-for-dysgraphia/.

What is the single most effective way of raising student exam grades?

There is little more frustrating than a student who you know has plenty of ability within a subject, but who simply does not seem to be able to study and reveal his/her aptitude in exams.

Fortunately, however, there is a fairly simple way of helping such students overcome this situation so that they make far more of their study time, learn more rapidly, and develop an ability to use the knowledge that they have gained within examinations.

This approach breaks learning into two simple parts: learning how to study, and then applying this knowledge to the subject matter being studied.

Self-evidently, once the student can study in a more effective and efficient manner the student also becomes more adept at reproducing this knowledge in a meaningful way when required. Then, inevitably, the student’s grades will go up.

This is where Raising Grades through Study Skills comes in. The volume, which is available either as a photocopiable master or on CD (so that it can be placed on the school’s learning platform), focuses on the ways in which students can both be helped and can help themselves by learning more quickly and more effectively.

Since the first edition of this work was published it has been adopted in several thousand schools, in some cases being used within an individual department, sometimes across the whole school.

22 separate methods of learning are detailed in the volume, plus details of 10 teaching methods which can be used to help develop the learning approaches.

There is also a series of active learning assignments and a further 15 sections on memory and how students may enhance their own memory abilities and increase their ability to utilise the knowledge that they have gained.

Results from the use of this approach have shown that once students have been shown how to study and how to ensure that they can remember and use the material they have studied, the motivation gained from the rapid success that results becomes a factor in motivating them to ever further achievements.

The activities developed in this volume can either be set up as separate lessons or can be integrated into the existing timetable.

Raising Grades through Study Skills is available as a photocopiable book or on CD Rom which can itself be copied or loaded onto the school’s learning platform or intranet.

Cat No: 978 1 86083 845 3. Order code: T1787emn – please quote with order.

Sample pages can be viewed at http://pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/education/T1787.pdf

Formats, prices and delivery cost…

  • Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the Ring Binder and the CD £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report…

Free sign up for a year to KS1 and KS2 Numeracy Education Quizzes

Our library of KS1 and KS2 Numeracy Education Quizzes is free for a whole year and covers an extensive range of topic areas including: Shapes, Addition and Subtraction, Odd or Even, Number Bonds, Time, Multiplication and Division, Patterns and Sequences, Ratios, Fractions, Decimals and more!

To see our full range of Numeracy Education Quizzes for KS1, click here.

And to see our full range of Numeracy Education Quizzes for KS2, click here.

Would you like to be able to offer Education Quizzes as home revision or homework to your pupils? Our Education Quizzes can be accessed by pupils on their home computers, tablets, and smartphones.

For free sign up for a year to our library of KS1 and KS2 numeracy Education Quizzes, please visit https://www.educationquizzes.com/schools-uk-registrations/.  If you would like to know more, please do email admin@educationquizzes.com or call 01406 371799.

Colin King

 

£30 is all it costs for your pupils to gain a comprehensive understanding of art and develop a vast range of transferable skills

As part of Topical Resources Summer Sale of 2016 we are offering our popular Step-by-Step Art series for just £5 a book until the end of August (or while stocks last).

The Step-by-Step Art series includes:

Step-by-Step Art for Reception Classes (£5)

Step-by-Step Art for Key Stage 1 Classes (£5)

Step-by-Step Art for Lower Key Stage 2 Classes (£5)

Step-by-Step Art for Upper Key Stage 2 Classes (£5)

Step-by-Step Art: Christmas in the Classroom (£5)

Step-by-Step Art: Working with the Computer (£5)

The Step-by-Step Art series is just one of many series that we have in our Art range – you can find more art teaching resources for just £5 a book at https://www.topical-resources.co.uk/category/art/

And, as always, you can order any of our resources by:

  • visiting our website
  • calling 01772 863158
  • faxing 01772 866153
  • emailing sales@topical-resources.co.uk            
  • or by sending your order in the post to Topical Resources, P.O. Box329, Broughton, Preston, Lancashire PR3 5LT

 
www.topical-resources.co.uk
sales@topical-resources.co.uk

Why schools should be making the most of every method of communication that is available to them

Last month I went to pick up my friend’s children from school and was surprised to find that the school noticeboard had only two notices on it, one of which was about last year’s Christmas party.

Since then I have discovered that this is a common occurrence and that many other school noticeboards across the UK are similarly out-of-date and uninformative.

Why this surprises me is simple given that I am often approached by school leaders who complain about how incredibly difficult it is to communicate with parents (which I don’t doubt).

But surely this means that schools should be making the most of every method of communication that is available to them, including the school noticeboard.

If your school is thinking about buying a new school noticeboard, Greenbarnes has a range of styles of outdoor noticeboards which you can see on our website.

Alternatively, please do call us on 01280 701093 and we’ll be pleased to discuss our boards, send you a brochure, and give any advice and guidance that you may require.

Confidence and having an open mindset is everything in learning.

As the work of Carol Dweck has proved, no matter how able, a child’s perception of themselves as a learner will determine their academic career. If it is poor, it will:

  • Undermine their resilience, so that they give up at the slightest obstacle
  • Make them defensive learners, unwilling to challenge themselves
  • Make them over-reliant on teachers and on received opinion
  • Write-off successes as ‘flukes’
  • Under-perform in exams and tests
  • Have low aspirations and under-achieve in life

The acclaimed self-perception test Myself As a Learner Scale 8-16+, by Robert Burden, gives teachers, psychologists and researchers a proven technique to gain access to this important aspect of learning development. In fact, the test is the only one that measures a child’s perception of themselves, specifically as learners.

Using it will enable you to:

  • Uncover, beneath external shows of confidence, which children have poor views of themselves as learners and therefore will be liable to under-perform
  • Pinpoint exactly where their problems are
  • Measure progress in developing ‘open-mindsets’ in children

Myself as a Learner Scale 8-16+ is easy to administer, score and interpret. It can be used for gaining information on large cohorts of students or for more clinical purposes with individuals.

It is a valid and reliable scale that can provide a valuable addition to any school’s assessment programme or educational psychologist’s repertoire of assessment techniques.

This is why MALS has gone around the world as the key test to use to measure a child’s image of themselves as learners and thinkers.

You can find out more about the test and order your copy at our bookshop.

Or if you have any questions, or would like to order directly with me, you can email me at james@imaginativeminds.co.uk. Or call me on my direct number: 01211 2247584.

I look forward to hearing from you.

James Mason
Marketing
Teaching Times

Tel: 0121 224 7584 | Fax: 0121 224 7589
james@imaginativeminds.co.uk | TeachingTimes.com

PS: If you would like to order by invoice, you can order your copy of MALS on the bookshop and select ‘Invoice Payment’ at check out.

Online Safeguarding Training for OFSTED requirements

SSS Learning’s CPD accredited secure online safeguarding training is created specifically for school and academy settings to meet the OFSTED Common Inspection Framework, offering a perfect solution to promote best practice and evidence training to OFSTED.

Accessible anytime/anywhere on PC, MAC, Tablet or Smart Phone, our online training takes approximately one hour per course to complete and is by far the most cost-effective way to train your staff both quickly and easily.

To find out about our current online safeguarding courses for staff in schools and academies, please click on a course title below:

CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION  

CHILD PROTECTION

PREVENT DUTY

CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION  

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION AWARENESS 

MAKING POLICY WORK IN PRACTICE

RISK ASSESSMENT

SSS Learning Ltd, Suite A, St Hilary Court, Copthorne Way, Cardiff, CF5 6ES, 02920 597000.

What can be done to help pupils and students, who want to learn a musical instrument, learn more effectively?

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Next term a new, national, School Music Week is to be launched.  Not a Music Week to celebrate what the pupils in schools across the UK have done, but rather to encourage them in their work in the coming year and also to encourage more to make the musical journey

It is a website to help music teachers encourage pupils and students to practise and keep learning their chosen instrument.  It is also there to help parents and non-music teachers understand the huge benefits that accrue both to the school and to the pupils and students from the study of musical instruments.

Its aims also include helping parents understand the process of learning an instrument, how to go about buying an instrument, and how to maintain the enthusiasm for learning an instrument.

As part of our preparation for School Music Week next term, we are also undertaking some research into the range of instrumental tuition in secondary schools, looking at any difficulties schools might be facing due to falling pupil numbers and budget cuts –  and the opportunities for expansion.

The survey is, of course, completely anonymous but if you wish we can send you back a copy of the results once we have them analysed.

The questionnaire will only take two to three minutes to complete and doesn’t ask for any details about your school.  I do hope you will spare a moment to help us gather this information.

To take the questionnaire please just click here.

If you have any questions about the questionnaire please email hq@schoolmusicweek.co.uk or call us on 01536 505 622.

Outdoor learning helps children develop and improve social skills, says new report

A Kent environmental education centre that works with schools across the UK and Europe has been praised for improving children’s self-esteem, confidence, and social skills through its residential trips.

According to a new report assessing the effectiveness of outdoor learning at Rippledown, in Ringwould near Deal, the centre’s residential programmes allow children to “gain a sense of their own individual interests, strengths and abilities” as well as “nature connection, hope and dietary awareness”.

The report follows a study by Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) and leading environmental education charity The Bay Trust, which runs Rippledown, on the impact and influence of the centre’s programme on children’s learning and wellbeing.

Three primary schools took part in the study, one from a rural part of Kent and two from an urban and suburban area of London. Some 50 children aged between 9 and 10 participated in team activities such as shelter building, using navigational tools such as map and compass, a walk to the beach, treasure hunting, and mini beast hunting.

Data gathered from an anonymous questionnaire, which was completed a week before, a week after, and a month after the children’s residential stay, suggests that their experience enabled them to gain a greater sense of their own competence, connection to nature, hope, and resilience, as well as developing a healthier dietary awareness.

Using hand-written journals created with natural objects, youngsters were also encouraged to give their opinions of Rippledown and describe their feelings inspired by photographs set in a natural environment.

The findings highlight how children view and interact with the outdoors, with responses including “being outdoors makes me happy” and “my actions will make the natural world different”. They also demonstrate the children’s positive coping skills while away from home.

If you are looking for LOtC ideas, please take a look at our Facebook & Twitter pages. But if you want to take a look at who we are and what we do before you call, you’ll find more information about leasing at www.minibusleasing.co.uk.

Email: minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk
Tel: 01753 859944

Benchmark Leasing Ltd
11 High Street
Eton
Berkshire
SL4 6AS

www.minibusleasing.co.uk/school-minibus.php

minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk

Tel: 01753 859944

Free song reminder

FREE Limited Offer!

 Autumn’s round the corner – yikes! So, to help you out, we have a limited number of easy-sing Harvest Song Packs to give away FREE (normally £9.95) – perfect for your harvest festival! But they won’t be around for long, so get yours by 15 July 2016

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Surprise your children with these fantastic, contemporary sounding Harvest songs – they’ll love singing them and you’ll love how easy they are to teach (even if you’re not musical!)

You’ll receive your songs as an instant download. You’ll even get a free performance licence, so you can use them in your harvest festival – yippee!

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For, and on behalf of, Popcorn School Ltd. Registered address: 9 Yelverton Close, Walsall, WS3 3XE. Company number: 08534985.

 

School fundraising opportunities to make the most of between now and the end of the year

Schools will soon be inviting members of the local community to join them at their annual summer fete, not least because it’s an occasion that creates a sense of community cohesion (generating good PR), but also because it presents a perfect school fundraising opportunity.

But whilst almost every school hosts a summer fete in order to raise funds, only a small number of schools are making the most of the lead up to Christmas to raise funds, despite schools having great fundraising success at this time.

Indeed, schools that are successful at raising funds in the lead up to Christmas typically join the School Christmas Card Project – I know Christmas seems a long way away, but registration for our 2016 School Christmas Card Project is now open.

With the School Christmas Card Project an average school of 250 pupils can easily raise £500 or more and there is absolutely no upfront cost, whatsoever, to the school.

The School Christmas Card Project allows children to create their own artwork which is then printed on to professionally produced cards which the school sells at a profit to parents.

Parents place their orders and pay the school before we ask for any payment at all, and as we offer very competitive prices for our high quality products, you can maximise the earning potential for your school.

You will find everything you need to join our School Christmas Card Project on our website, including:
How it works
A free information pack
And our price table 

If you are unlikely to be the person to get involved in co-ordinating this kind of school fundraising project, please do forward this email onto a member of staff or a member of the PTA who is likely to be responsible.

Kind regards,
Steve

School Christmas Card Project
Start your 2016 School Christmas Card Project now!
Tel: 0114 453 9562
Ecclesall Print, 237A Ringinglow Road, Sheffield S11 7PU.

Postura Plus stools and high chairs …. an attractive choice for the science department…. and with a FIVE year warranty.

Ever since Postura chairs were introduced to UK schools and colleges in 1996 they have been a remarkable success……. and not without good reason.

a.   Excellent ergonomics to provide comfortable seating for your students.
b.   Now in 15 attractive colours.
c.   Available in a range of seat heights.

Postura Plus stools and high chairs have a skid base design which discourages leaning back and is kind to floor surfaces…. PLUS a FIVE year warranty.

Postura Plus stools and high chairs can be obtained from:

Central Educational Supplies Ltd., PO Box 999, London E14 6SH

More information and pricing can be seen on their website:

www.centraleducational.co.uk

Contact them on: info@centraleducational.co.uk or telephone: 020 7515 1797 and ask for Martin Evans who will be pleased to assist.

2016 Specification Geography: Summer Spotlight Resources!

July Spotlight Resource: 2016 GCSE AQA Teaching Packs

The first in the range of our brand new Teaching Packs for the 2016 GCSE AQA specification is available now. Scheme of work, lesson plans and activities designed specifically for the new 2016 GCSE AQA specification for Unit 1: Section C: Physical Landscapes of the UK.

Engaging and well-thought-out schemes, designed by teachers around the specified learning objectives. Each resource covers a particular section of the specification. Ease your planning and cultivate pupils’ love for Geography!

  • All the specification key ideas covered in a structured manner
  • Lesson plans match weighting of the specification for a full GCSE
  • Varied activities including starters, mains, plenaries, homework and extension
  • Accessible worksheets with innovative activities to tackle each topic

Simplify your planning, preparation and marking: structured lesson plans, all resources and answers provided.

“A brilliant resource, has made me feel a lot more relaxed about teaching the new specification as this resource covers everything you need for this section.”
–  L. Keeley, HoD & Independent Reviewer

More unit sections coming soon! Look out for new ZigZag Education order forms in your school for September teaching.


ZigZag resources are available as ‘copy masters’ or in editable format and come with a site licence, allowing you to pay once and copy as often as you need, or put on your server for multiple use.

Our resources are also available in:

  1. Easy-printing PDF files (add 30%+VAT), or
  2. PDF with editable Word files (add 50%+VAT).

Preview and order now at http://zzed.uk/XA16


ZigZag Education, Unit 3, Greenway Business Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol BS10 5PY
t: 0117 950 3199 | f: 0117 959 1695 | GeographyXA16@zigzageducation.co.uk

Give your promotional code XA16 to get free postage!

Exceptional Science Teaching Resources

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Virtual Science Ltd

The Virtual Physics Laboratory is a collection of 26 3d immersive experiments that use games technology to give authentic laboratory experiences. They are ideal where resources are limited or where you want to give your students a wider experience of experiments that they would not normally get, such as measuring the acceleration of gravity on the Moon, firing an AK47 at a ballistic balance, using an Airtrack to verify Newton’ Second Law.

Email enquiries@virtual-science.co.uk for a free trial.
Postal address:
Virtual Science Ltd, Flat 1, 8 West Parade, Bexhill-on-Sea. TN39 3HR

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Behaviour Solutions

Amazing Brain Posters – We have produced four brain posters which will help pupils and students understand their brain, how to enhance their learning and help them begin to modify their own behaviour.

Email: dave@behaviourmatters.com
Telephone:
01626 366161
Postal address:
Behaviour Solutions Limited, 15 St. Marys Close, Abbotskerswell, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 5QF

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SSS

Interactive Biology Software – 17 titles packed with hundreds of stunning curriculum 3D animations describing difficult to understand concepts for Biology. There are texts, voice-overs, quiz zones, drag and drops, multiple choice quizzes and more. Request your 14-day free trial of Biology Educational Software Solution.

Interactive Chemistry Software – 14 titles packed with hundreds of stunning curriculum 3D animations describing difficult to understand concepts for Chemistry. There are texts, voice-overs, quiz zones, drag and drops, multiple choice quizzes and more. Request your 14-day free trial of Chemistry Educational Software Solution.

Interactive Physics Software – 13 titles packed with hundreds of stunning curriculum 3D animations describing difficult to understand concepts for Physics. There are texts, voice-overs, quiz zones, drag and drops, multiple choice quizzes and more. Request your 14-day free trial of Physics Educational Software Solution.

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First and Best in Education

Science Crosswords and Short Answer Tasks – a volume of over 40 crosswords and games focussing on GCSE topics in general through to pages on specific topics.

Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk
Telephone:
01536 399007
Postal address:
Hamilton House Mailings Ltd, Earlstrees Ct, Earlstrees Rd, Corby, Northants, NN17 4HH

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Signpost Educational Ltd

Calculators – basic calculators, Casio scientific calculators, LK 183 scientific calculators, Sharp scientific calculators, Texet scientific calculators and Aurora scientific calculators.

Calculator Storage Boxes – Gratnell’s storage boxes (with transparent clip-on lids and foam inserts for 30 basic or scientific calculators) are a convenient way of storing your classroom calcs.  The slots in the foam mean that you can see at a glance if any calcs are missing as well as providing protection for your calcs.

Student Packs for Lessons and Exams – designed to provide your students with the equipment they need for most of their lessons and exams. Consists of a clear plastic, “exam friendly” zip up wallet containing: Three quality ballpens  (black ink), two HB pencils, 15 cm ruler, metal sharpener, eraser.

Telephone: 020-7515-1797
Postal address:
SIGNPOST EDUCATIONAL LTD, PO Box 999, London, E14 6SH, UK

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You can find more Exceptional Teaching resources at exceptionalteaching.org.uk.

Raise Standards in Year 11 with Smarter Decisions

In the run up to GCSEs, have you found yourself spending too much time keeping track of student progress across the year group? Collating reports, chasing progress checks from colleagues and making sure that all students were fully prepared for their exams?

Identify gaps in learning before they become an issue with Show My Homework. We’re the leading online homework software used by 1 in 5 UK Secondary Schools, providing Middle and Senior Leaders with everything they need to better support their students.

With all homework recorded online, and the ability for teachers to share and reuse best practice homework tasks, students are given quality homework that is always worthwhile, and that doesn’t impact on a teacher’s already busy schedule.

With separate student accounts, your Year 11s have access to all the homework details their teachers provide in class, whether they’re at home, in the library, or accessing their homework tasks on the move with our mobile apps.

Parents are also given visibility into the amount of homework set and teachers’ expectations, giving them the tools to support their child through this important stage in their education.

Increase submission rates, create confident, autonomous learners, and give every single student the best chance to succeed come GCSEs next year.

Start making a difference in your school today.

To learn more, click here.

Show My Homework.
More home, less work.

How you can help your SEN students to develop a greater understanding of PSHEE and citizenship – and why this is so important

Students with neurodevelopmental disorders often find the various and numerous concepts in PSHEE and Citizenship lessons incredibly difficult to understand. Yet once these concepts have been grasped, their development and progress in these areas is tremendous.

Which is why SEN Press has produced the SEN Press Starter Pack.

The SEN Press Starter Pack consists of 38 different readers which have been written to meet the learning needs of SEN students between the ages of 14 and 19 and which will enhance students understanding in an array of areas in PSHEE and Citizenship lessons, including:

Everyday Challenges

Book titles include, “Learning to Speak Up”, “Moving on to College”, “Shopping for Clothes”, “Shopping for Mum”, “Swimming a Length” and “Travelling by Yourself”.

Scary Things

Book titles include: “Scared of Bullies?”, “Scared of the Dark?”, “Scared of Dogs?”, “Scared of Getting Lost?”, “Scared of Injections?” and “Scared of Spiders?”.

Ups and Downs

Book titles include: “A Bad Day”, “The Best Present Ever!”, A Great Day Out” and “That’s Not Fair!”.

 Simple Meals

Book titles include: “Breakfast in Bed”, “Lunch for Guests”, “Packed Lunch” and “Tea”.

Making Sense of Money

Book titles include: “Money in, Money Out”, “Everyday Money”, “What’s it worth?”, “Cash and Cakes”, “Keeping Money Safe” and “Making Ends Meet”.

Relationships

Book titles include: “The Date: Rachel’s Story”, “The Date: Mike’s Story”, “Mum’s New Boyfriend”, “My Teacher”, “Sisters at War” and “Staying Out Late”.

Work Experience

Book titles include: “An Animal Charity”, “A Charity Shop”, “A Fast-Food Restaurant”, “A Garage”, “An Interview” and “A Supermarket”.

 

The complete set of resources (as above) is available for £179, or, if you’d prefer, you can order individual elements from the SEN Press Starter Pack separately.

You can find more information and see sample pages from the readers, and details for ordering individual items as well as the full pack, on our ‘Starter Pack’ web page.

If you have any questions or need more information, please email info@senpress.co.uk or call 01582 833205.  We’ll be delighted to hear from you.

Janie Nicholas

Clips and videos bring a subject to life – but there’s so much out there. How do you find the best?

The web is awash with video material, but how do you find material that’s relevant and interesting?

TV Choice has brought together the best of its 280+ films and clips, supported by notes, on one password for classroom and home use. It means to-the-point, fact-packed material on Business, Economics, Geography, ICT, D&T History and PSHE & Citizenship. It means material created for UK schools, clearly organised, entertaining and without bias.

TV Choice has been providing relevant, compelling material for schools for over 30 years – that wealth of material is now available as an easy to use library at less than £4 a week.

You can preview some of our new titles that we offer by clicking on the following links:

Marketing Strategy Case Studies: Tesco Triumph & Tragedy

Marketing Strategy Case Studies: The Starbucks Experience

The European Union Explained: EU History, Structure, Pros and Cons

TV Choice offers a range of Streaming Platform Packages:

  1. Full TVChoice Library (280+ films & clips £195 + vat per year)
  2. Business & Economics (230+ films & clips £165 + vat per year)
  3. Geography, Leisure & Tourism (100+ films & clips £120 + vat per year)
  4. Design, Technology & ICT (60+ films & clips £75 + vat per year)
  5. PSHE & Citizenship (80+ films & clips £75 + vat per year)
  6. History (13 films & clips £49 + vat per year)

You can order any of our TV Choice Streaming Platform Packages either by visiting our website, calling 0208 464 7402, faxing 0208 464 7845, or by sending your order in the post to TV Choice Ltd, PO Box 597, Bromley, BR2 0YB.

Please note that if you enter the code HHSP16 at checkout (on the website) or on your order, you will receive 10% off your order.

Free speakers and resources from Compassion in World Farming

Many pupils are passionate about the welfare of animals though, if surveys are to be believed, many of them do not know how their bacon, eggs and milk are produced!

Food production is a growing topic of debate whether you are talking about the ethics of how we treat animals, how we produce healthy food or how we can feed a growing population.

Finding time to discuss topics such as animal welfare and sustainable food production is doubly valuable – it gives pupils an important understanding of a range of ethical and environmental factors and it encourages great debates!

To help you to engage your pupils in such discussions, we provide a free speaker service and a pack of resources including a film and discussion activities, which can be adapted for pupils of different ages, abilities and levels of confidence.

To enquire about a speaker or to order a free resource pack, please email education@ciwf.org.uk with “Geography mailshot” in the subject title.

To view or download the resources directly, including films, please go to our Geography webpage.

Yours faithfully

Phil Brooke
Education Manager
Compassion in World Farming

PS We’ve had some wonderful evaluations from teachers for our talks and resources:

“We have really ‘enjoyed’ using your pack.  It stirred up a huge amount of interest and discussion”

“Thanks for inspiring and IMPORTANT material – which is very difficult to come by.”

Links and contacts:

Email: education@ciwf.org.uk

Tel: 01483 521 965

Education website: ciwf.org.uk/education

Geography webpage: ciwf.org.uk/geography

Speaker service: ciwf.org.uk/speakers

SRE for Post 16 – we have a responsibility to get it right.

“For both men and women, school is now the most commonly reported main source of information about sexual matters” (Medical Research Council, 5.3.15)

Current research suggests that more and more the responsibility for delivering good and correct sex and relationship education is falling to schools and teachers as opposed to parents or families.

For post 16 students especially it is more important than ever for SRE to counteract the mass promotion of sexuality, love and relationships that undermines self esteem and encourages unrealistic aspirations of who we should be and what we should be doing from technology, the media and the pornography industry.

The final years at school are the last chance for young people to gain the knowledge and understanding that will help them make informed future decisions, support them on to independence and see them lead contented, healthy and safe lives.

“If you’re too ashamed to speak to young people about sex, exploitative free porn will fill the gaps” Grace Dent, The Independent, Sept 2015

According to Ofsted research, when asked what would make PSHE education lessons more useful, pupils said;

 “Rape culture. What to look for in a healthy relationship.” Female student

“The influence of the media such as porn on people’s views of sex and the human body.” Male student

It is this combination of need and lack of outside companies provision that inspired Tip of the Iceberg Theatre Company to develop an SRE project aimed specifically at the 16+ age group that tackles these difficult topics in an involving, inspiring and informing way.

It is now more important than ever to create sex and relationship education that can be as compelling, as exciting and as influential as the media campaigns and products it is battling. Lisa Schulberg (Creative Director, Tip of the Iceberg Theatre Company)

Having worked directly with over 100,000 young people on SRE topics Tip of the Iceberg Theatre Company strongly believe, from their experience of covering sensitive and hard hitting issues, that sex and relationship education must include a much broader look at our world – the internet, technology, the whole sex industry, and attitudes to risk – you cannot separate topics into small boxes or educate on these complex subjects in a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation.  

From March 2016 Tip of the Iceberg Theatre Company will be touring the following project for years 12 & 13:

“SEXPOSED” – A 40 minute live performance followed by a range of interactive workshop options.

The project takes a mature approach to the many attitudes, ideas and pressures experienced by all ages in regards to sex and relationships in Britain today.

The story unfolds as part of a police investigation and the play follows a year in the life of three 18 year olds to uncover the truth behind an incident that connects them all.  Everyone has a different perspective, they all have a motive, and none of them can be objective when it comes to their relationships. The storyline includes scenes around control, sexual pressure, consent, abuse, sexting, pornography, communicating feelings, self-esteem, respect, and sexuality.

Using the performance as a springboard the follow on workshops allow students to examine their own attitudes, ideas and behaviours in relation to the difficult, contentious and sensitive topics.  The aims are for students to learn something new about themselves that will make a positive difference to the rest of their lives.

There are different delivery formats available from assemblies to full day projects.

Prices start at £575 + travel + vat

For further information and an exact quote please contact Hazel:

Email: admin@tipoftheiceberg.biz

Tel: 07519593711

July offer: save on play equipment and games for your nursery with Edventure Playtime Games

As part of Edventure’s 2016 Summer Sale we are offering all of our play equipment and games at 10% off when you quote the code HH1007 on your order or at checkout before 22nd July 2016.

Included in our range of playtime equipment and games are some nursery favourites:

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Balance Beam

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Soft Small Football

 

Parachute!cid_424bebbc8bd028311c38f3aa6caa083d

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Big Build Blocks

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We-Blocks Minis

 

Tower & Cube Set!cid_67e763e7572523ebf47c48d43ff04a2a

 

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 Scooter Board

To place an order with Edventure you can either:

  • visit our website at www.edventure.co.uk
  • fax your order to 01323 50 10 41
  • call us on 01323 50 10 40
  • email your order to us at sales@edventure.co.uk           
  • or send your order by post to Edventure Ltd, Hargreaves Business Park, Hargreaves Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QW.

There is no minimum order and delivery is free on orders over £200 pre VAT. Payment, either by credit card or cheque, is required with your order.

How can schools create a manageable computing journey at Key Stage 2 when there are so many free tools to use?

In the run up to the launch of the new computing curriculum, as well as after it was phased in, there was a collective intake of breath from teachers up and down the country as they absorbed what it all meant.

For many teachers the notion of writing and debugging programs or explaining simple algorithms was well beyond their every-day experience and certainly not in their training.

Fortunately at the time there was already a string of free web based tools out there to use and a couple of these have proved really successful like Scratch from MIT & Daisy the Dinosaur.

Thankfully, it also seems sometimes that many children tend to be a little more fearless with technology – a strength when it comes to Computing!

With all the free tools that some school enthusiasts started to champion it soon became apparent that while they were free there was little if any support or influence on how products developed – how could there be if the tool was free?

The result for some schools has been a bird’s nest of logins for different tools, varying user interfaces, unreliable work saving and patchy levels of school service. Factors like these undermine teacher confidence who just want it to work. Schools love saving money but when the cost is not having a reliable learning environment then its surely too high.

The mission at Blippit has been to get key elements of the computing curriculum under one roof and to help develop curious learners through authentic learning – even to the point of publishing apps (with the teacher’s approval) on our free app store, Planet Blippit.

Blippit IO, through its powerfully simple tools, opens the door to computational thinking, logical reasoning and unexpectedly – writing.  You can use our templates or just create your own.

To try Blippit IO for your school just visit us here and if you decide that Blippit IO would serve your schools needs you can upgrade here.

If you have any questions or queries about Blippit IO please do call 01772 657 100 or email support@blippit.co.uk  John Bidder

Most agree: schools should have a constant ongoing plan to improve the efficiency of the school

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In fact, it is more than “most” who agree.  In research undertaken by the School of Educational Administration and Management, 82% of school managers and administrators agree that schools should have a constant ongoing plan to improve the efficiency of the school.

While a small minority continue with the view that efficiency is either not an issue that should bother schools at all or that efficiency savings can be introduced when something is noticed, most now share the mainstream view of organisations across the UK – we have to think about efficiency all the time.

Thus it now seems that efficiency is very much a part of the concern of most schools, and the dominant view is that that efficiency savings can’t be made just by noticing something that “doesn’t look right”.  The problem is tha twe all get used to the way things are and so don’t see inefficiencies, or simply dismiss the chance of doing anything about them, because “that is the way things are.”

The results of this survey have now put them on the School Business, Management and Administration Week website.  The analysis of the survey results is here as part of the new School Business Management and Administration Week website.

If you have any thoughts about the site, particularly if you feel there is anything else that should be there, do let me know.  Remember the idea of the School Business Management and Administration Week is that we have a website that is aimed at administrators and management equally.  This is on the basis that the most efficient organisations have the closest liaison between management and administration.

I am also hoping that you, and your colleagues elsewhere in the school, will take particular note of the final item within the research – how work enters the school office and how the volume of that work is controlled.

Many school offices reported to the SEAM in earlier surveys that they are suffering from constant overload of work, and this final point is indeed relevant.

Thanks very much to everyone who participated in the research.  My hope is that it really will have an impact.

Tony Attwood

Chair, the School of Educational Administration and Management.

 

The School of Educational Administration and Management was set up with government funding through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership initiative with the support of the Dept of Trade and Industry, and the School of Education, Northampton University, to research and promote efficiency savings in schools.  More details of the SEAM’s work can be found on our website.

Why do English teachers take part-time qualifications in creative writing and literature from the University of Cambridge?

We all tend to have our own reasons for approaching each course we take and each additional qualification we work towards.

Some courses can cover an aspect of a syllabus that one is teaching and which has not been central to one’s studies in the past. Some take participants into the world of creative writing, and some involve original research.

And then the status and credibility of the awarding body is also important, not just for the quality of the teaching and the work, but also in terms of how the qualification will look on our CV should we wish to apply for a new post at some time in the future.

This coming academic year the University of Cambridge is offering a range of part time courses in Creative Writing and English Literature of relevance to English teachers, starting this October. Brief details are given below, and more information is available on our website.

The Certificate in Creative Writing I  starts by considering different forms of fiction – such as the novel, flash fiction, and short stories. Using published works and their own writing, those on the course examine the difference between fiction and other forms of writing such as poetry.

The second unit studies the structure of a range of novels to see how different authors have followed or subverted the “rules”, while the final unit considers the ways in which a piece written for performance tells its story and engages with its audience.

The Certificate in Creative Writing II looks in depth at creative non-fiction and the different forms of writing it involves, such as writing about food, narrative history, popular science, comic writing, and the essay.  It then considers the importance of creating a memorable sense of place, while the final unit explores “life writing”, such as memoir, biography, letter, and diary writing.

The Diploma in Creative Writing I focusses on advanced techniques for identifying a potential story, constructing a coherent sense of time and place, keeping dramatic control, etc. The second unit examines different approaches to structure and the use of pace, drama, description, characterisation, and humour.

The final unit considers the tradition of writing inspired by art, exploring sculpture, portraiture, landscapes, and modern art to observe the evolution of word-and-image in world literature.

The Diploma in Creative Writing II starts with historical fiction from Tudor England to Cold War Germany, considering issues from creating convincing flashbacks to the interweaving of storylines from different points in history.

The second unit on Advanced Crime Writing considers key elements in all such writing, such as the compelling plot, convincing dialogue, a strong sense of place, and accurate research in different types of crime novels such as: “urban noir”, “rural noir”, “Scandi noir”, as well as true crime.

The final unit studies techniques used in writing for TV, film, stage, and radio along with the art of adapting a story from one medium to another.

The above certificate and diploma courses can be taken individually or sequentially in any order.

The Diploma in English Literature I focusses initially on the adaptation of literary works into film and other forms, examining questions of genre, authorship, and form, using examples from Shakespeare, Emily Bronte, and Lewis Carroll, and filmic works by directors including Stanley Kubrick, Andrea Arnold, and Jane Campion.

The second unit looks at a range of major writers in poetry and prose, encompassing the religious debates that characterise much 17th-century writing and focussing on how each writer manifests his particular concerns in the minutiae of form and style.

The final unit considers matters of place, identity, and the spirit of discovery in a range of 19th- and 20th-century works, questioning what it once meant to travel and settle in the age of empire.

Finally the Advanced Diploma in English Literature is a part-time research-based course which offers students the opportunity to undertake supervised independent study over two academic years, culminating in a dissertation of 10,000-12,000 words on a topic of their devising.

The course provides a good foundation in research methods for those who wish to continue with their research at a higher level, either through a postgraduate course or on their own initiative.

Alternatively if you’d like to dip your toe in the water or explore a specific topic, we also offer a range of short courses throughout the year.

You can find out more about all the above courses and apply online by 5 September on our website

Alternatively, you can contact me directly with specific enquiries on 01223 746 417 or email me at enquiries@ice.cam.ac.uk.

Paul Ireland
Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge
Madingley Hall, Madingley, Cambridge, CB23 8AQ

What is the simplest way of making philosophical arguments accessible to students?

Understanding philosophical argument requires a knowledge of the fundamentals such as logic, argument, empiricism, rationalism, justification, scepticism…

But the study of these concepts can become rather dry and removed from the work of philosophers unless presented in a way that relates to the world of the student, taking them from their own world to these different approaches to that world.

This approach makes the concepts accessible and comprehensible to students before getting into the application of these concepts through the work of specific philosophers and their approaches.

Thus in this volume we look at moral philosophy which takes the student through utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics, to practical ethics looking at topics such as abortion and voluntary euthanasia, and to meta-ethics.

There is also a separate section on the philosophy of region covering ideas of God, cosmological ontological and teleological arguments, faith, reason and belief, and the implications of God’s existence.

After each argument there is an explanation – where necessary – of each part of the argument, followed by discussion of any problems or issues arising. Finally there are questions and points for discussion.

Some of the material on God and Moral Philosophy will also be useful to students of A level Religious Studies whose course includes some Philosophy of Religion and Ethics. Of particular relevance are sections on: arguments for the existence of God; faith, reason and belief; religious experience; God and morality; miracles.

There are sample pages from the photocopiable book at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/re/T1706.pdf

Publisher’s reference: T1706EMN ISBN: 978 1 86083 771 5

Prices 

  • Photocopiable book: £25.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £25.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the book and the CD: £32.94 plus £3.95 delivery

Prices include VAT.  Please quote the order ref: T1706EMN

You can purchase the book

Starting and ending the lesson

There’s not much doubt that if the start and end of a lesson can be particularly enjoyable or exciting for the students, then the memory of the lesson itself that they hold will be more positive.

And that, of course, raises the enthusiasm with which the lesson is approached next time around.

With this in mind science teacher Rosamund Rogers produced a series of science crosswords and short-answer tasks focussing on GCSE science topics.

The subject matter ranges from scientific instruments and lab equipment through to the electromagnetic spectrum, via food chains, classifying vertebrates, gases, gears and light.

Some of the pages cover mixed topics as in the inevitable odd one out, the famous scientists and names given to studies of certain subjects. But most are set firmly in one area of work (‘Parts of the Human Body’, ‘Motion of an object’, ‘The Planets’ etc).

The collection  includes more such activities than you are likely to need each year and can be set as homework, revision studies, or (if you are so minded) co-operative learning in the class. It is available as a photocopiable book – and thus just one copy is needed, and can be used repeatedly within the school. 

Sample pages from Science Crosswords and Short Answer Tasks are available at www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/science/T1684.pdf

Publisher’s reference: T1684EMN ISBN: 978 1 86083 770 8

Prices

  • Photocopiable book: £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the book and the CD: £26.94 plus £3.95 delivery

Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report… please quote the order ref: T1684EMN

  • By post to First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Way, Corby, NN17 4HH
  • By fax to 01536 399 012
  • On line with a credit card at www.shop.firstandbest.co.uk